WHEN IT LOOKS HOPELESS
20th Mar 2013
Abraham’s situation looked impossible, he was nearly 100 years old and Sarah just ten years younger, and he was still waiting for the son God had promised. Paul uses this dilemma as an example of what we should be doing when everything looks hopeless. In Romans 4:18 it says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed...”
You may be facing a situation today which seems absolutely hopeless. As I read these verses a few days ago, I began to see the principles and fundamental belief that Abraham had that enabled him to receive what God had promised.
First, he had received a promise from God, “So shall your offspring be.” God had spoken to him on an number of occasions and had emphasised that the son who was to be the fulfilment of his destiny would be a child born naturally to him and Sarah. Have you received a promise concerning the situation you are facing?
Secondly, he refused to let the circumstances rob him of faith. “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah was also dead.” (v19). He did not ignore the facts, or live in denial, he fully understood that his position was hopeless.
Thirdly, he did not allow fear to rob him of his place of faith. “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith and gave glory to God.” (v20) It is when every symptom and every fact points to other way, and fear seeks to overwhelm, and the doubts and lies of the enemy shout loudly in your ear that it can be easy to waver in faith.
Finally, because he knew God’s power and faithfulness, he had been walking with God for many years, so he did not allow the situation to make him change his confidence and complete trust in God. “Being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised.” (v 21)
And God has not changed.
by Charles Sibthorpe
